Shooter Files by f.d. walker

Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides

Eastern Europe

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week:
“Nothing Interesting Here”

Belgrade Serbia-4

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Belgrade, Serbia near the Old Palace. It was a quiet day on the streets and I hadn’t seen anything interesting all morning. But then I saw this older woman bundled up in her fancy coat with its large fur hood over her head. Her glasses were large and fancy too so her whole look captured my eye.

We were the only two people on the empty street and she clearly noticed me as we walked towards each other. As we got closer, I knew I wouldn’t be getting a very candid shot so I decided to ask her if I could take her photo instead.

She reacted extremely surprised and confused at my question.

She then asked me “Why in the world would you want to take a photo of me? There is nothing interesting about me at all.”

I almost had to laugh as I looked at her and explained how wrong she was. At first it didn’t seem like she’d accept my request, but after explaining why she was worth capturing, she reacted flattered and said yes with a smile. 

Normally, a smile feels posed, but there was something genuine about her smile. It contained part of her personality. So I captured her as is, smile and all.

While walking away, I thought to myself how so many people don’t realize how interesting and unique they really are. One of my favorite things about Street Photography is noticing and being able to appreciate the uniqueness of humanity, especially the ordinary people who really aren’t ordinary at all. 

Stats:

  • Camera: Fujifilm Xpro1
  • Lens: Fujinon XF 18mm 
  • Focal Length: 18mm (27mm full frame equivalent)
  • Aperture: f/4
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 800

7 First Impressions of Prague, Czech Republic
(From a Street Photography Perspective)

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After Kiev, Lviv and Krakow, the next stop on my Eastern European Street Photography Tour was Prague.

I’ve actually traveled to Prague once before, but it was over 7 years ago. So you might call this 7 First Impressions of Prague in 2016. With how much Prague has recently changed, it felt like going there for the first time in many ways, anyway. 

This fairytale of city has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe very quickly over the last decade. There’s plenty of reason why too. There’s really no other city like it. When it comes to Street Photography, though, too much tourism saturation can be a negative at times. 

Prague-10

Being a special city like Prague brings both an amazing setting and crowds of people to share it with. So here are my first impressions of Prague, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…

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Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Neck Brace”

61 Photos-35

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in Belgrade, Serbia on Prince Michael Street. When I first noticed this woman,  she caught my eye for obvious reasons. That huge neck brace, the color and style of her coat, her auburn hair and those sunglasses. She had character to spare. 

So I got in position for her to walk by and took a shot, but unfortunately the background was way too busy and messy with people. There wasn’t a lot I could do about it where we were at so I hoped she would walk somewhere more workable for a better photo, but instead she walked into a shopping store. I was disappointed, but tried to forget about it and focus on the next shot.

It was at least a couple of hours later when I surprisingly saw her again walking towards the end of Prince Michael Street. Since I didn’t want to capture her within another messy frame, I looked for juxtaposition or something to combine into the frame to make it more interesting. I didn’t see anything as she walked closer, but noticed where the sidewalk curved there was some nice sunlight with a background of shadow. So I had my camera exposed for the highlights and positioned myself to capture her as she walked into the light, while keeping only the black shadow as the background. 

Although she never reacted or said anything, she must have noticed me as she let a slight smile come across her face as she walked by. Sunlight and shadow is always fun to play with, but even better with someone with so much character.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/11
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 400
  • Focal Length: 27mm

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Smoke Light”

Prague Smoke Light-1

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken by the Charles University Faculty of Arts building in Prague, Czech Republic. I hadn’t been to Prague since my first visit over 7 years ago and I was surprised how much it had changed. I had great memories of being blown away by how beautiful and unique of a city Prague was.

Unfortunately, while it’s still beautiful and unique, it had lost much of it’s charm, in my opinion, due to being overrun with tourism. Segway tours and crowds of people filled the streets, while that authentic feeling I remembered had given way to more of a tourist attraction. It’s still definitely a great city worth visiting, but this usually happens when you have something special like Prague does.

On top of a little nostalgic disappointment, just about my whole time in Prague was dark, grey and very cold. It’s still a fun city to walk around, though, and even with the crowds of tourists, the view of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle is hard to beat. I had just come over from the Prague Castle when out of no where, the clouds parted and let in some sunlight.

I had to take advantage of this temporary moment and noticed how the light was hitting the Charles University Arts building. There’s a covered walkway with arches on the outside that was letting in just a little sunlight. I saw this interesting scholar dressed in all black taking a smoke break with the sunlight hitting only his head. So I walked over and took the shot just as he brought the cigarette to his mouth and glanced at me. A few minutes later, the clouds put the sun back away to never be seen again during my stay. You take what you can get.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/8.0
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 400
  • Focal Length: 27mm

Street Shot Sundays
Photo of the Week: “Leaves”

krakow leaves-1

Street Shot Sundays Story & Stats

Story:

This Sunday’s Street Shot of the Week was taken in the Podgórze neighborhood of Krakow, Poland. Podgórze is actually Krakow’s original Jewish Ghetto, even though the historic Jewish district of Kazimierz gets most of the attention today. Schindler’s factory, the inspiration for the movie Schindler’s List, is here too. 

So I took a walk over the bridge from the more touristic side of Krakow to explore this neighborhood too. I was walking along when I noticed this little girl looking through a store window. Her purple shirt stood out, but what really grabbed my attention was her handful of leaves in front of a window full of plants. I tried to take the shot so this juxtaposition could be noticed along with window’s reflection and her purple shirt. Looking back now, the strangest part was how she didn’t seem to have any parents or people with her, as she kept roaming the streets with her handful of leaves.

Stats:

  • Aperture: f/4.0
  • Shutter Speed: 1/500
  • ISO: 400
  • Focal Length: 27mm

33 Street Photography Photos from 4 Days in Lviv, Ukraine

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My last stop in Ukraine was also many locals’ favorite city in the country. Lviv is mixture of old architecture, churches, coffee houses and uniquely themed shops wherever you walk. All this packed into an extremely walkable city. There’s a very charming and unique vibe to the city that people refer to as “the Lviv Spirit.” When you walk around, you feel something special. 

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